The Sound of Your Voice | "People Whose Speech is Different" Article

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People Whose Speech is 'Different'
By Dr. Carol Fleming

We all notice the "elsewhereians" - people who are clearly different from us, and who clearly come from elsewhere. Perhaps we notice that they are shorter, their skin is brown, or that their facial features are somehow different, not like ours. We also notice that their English marks them as outsiders to our culture. You may try to figure out where they are from by the way they speak. Perhaps they're from Korea, Philippines, or El Salvador? The search for identity is one of the first things the human ear does when it processes language. Sometimes it gets in the way of hearing what the person has to say.

There's nothing wrong with observing differences and wondering about other people. Problems occur when we go from observation to judgment, on the basis of the look of a person and the sound of their voice. Unfortunately, this happens all the time, all around the world between all kinds of people. It always has. I have learned that these easy (prejudicial) judgments may prevent you from appreciating some phenomenal people. I want you to meet some of the people who have taught me this lesson. It's important that I tell you about them, because there's a good chance that they fall beneath your radar. They are embedded in our society, seated at computers, processing our paperwork, drawing blood, cooking and cleaning, as they get a foothold in our culture.

Thuy was probably 4'10 if she stretched herself as tall as possible. She was easily mistaken for a grade school girl at first glance. Thuy was earnest, Asian, and highly motivated to speak better English. She worked for a major corporation. Although her speech was relatively easy to follow, there were the usual pronunciation mistakes that come from being foreign born, in Thuy's case, Vietnam. Better speech was important for Thuy because she and her husband wanted to start a business, a restaurant, and they wanted to be able to speak clearly and fluently.

There was something about the way Thuy handled her sessions that made me suspect that she was trying to pass on her lessons to her husband at home. We tape-recorded all our work carefully, handouts were placed a specific folder and she made notes in the margins to make sure she got it right. She never failed to show up with a list of words or idioms that baffled her and she never failed to get everything recorded for home consumption.

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At the beginning of each session, I engage such a client in simple conversation, asking about the children, her past week, work, etc. I am scanning for mispronunciations, errors of meaning or tense, of course. I am especially keen to see if her 'homework' is evident. If we drilled hard on 3rd person verb endings last week, for example, I'll be attentive to her usage during our chat. If she says, "He likes chicken" or "She washes the dishes" Thuy sees contented smiles on my face. She watches for my smiles and beams when I do.

During one of our 'conversations', Thuy mentioned that her husband "is gets home at 5". "Is gets?" I asked her, "Thuy, when you first studied English, did your teacher go into different forms of verbs?" Thuy quickly ducked her head down. In an apologetic voice she said, "Oh Dr. Fleming! I never had a teacher! I taught myself English with a book and a dictionary."

Consider, dear reader, how likely it is that you could move to Portugal, Holland, Poland or some such place far away, and teach yourself that language with a book and a dictionary? Could you get yourself hired by a major corporation? Would you even dream of going out and starting a business in that culture? I thought not.

I should tell you about Hanh, too, another tiny, brown-skinned woman from Vietnam. In the initial interview, I asked about her English language training and she told me she actually spoke five languages. Her father had insisted that all his children be fluent in French, Chinese, Vietnamese, English and Russian because you just never knew how that war was going to come out and it was best to be prepared for whatever happened. (How many languages can you speak?)

Let's not forget about Sas, who managed to get out of Indonesia in search of an education. No one in his family was interested, so Sas hitchhiked his way to Germany, of all places, where he got his degree (and learned German). He then made his way to America. Apparently much hitchhiking was also involved in this leg of the journey. He had gotten himself into computer work in the Bay Area.

He then realized that his English was holding him back from promotion, so he started working with me. In addition, he would listen to, and record, radio programs that featured short stories read out loud. He would find these stories in library books, and read them aloud with the taped radio version to improve his intonation (his idea, not mine!) It took me many months to realize that this guy was spending a full day's pay to work with me for just 50 minutes a week. (How much is improving your speech worth to you?)

Thuy, Hanh and Sas are just a few of the people I've had the privilege to serve on their way to the American Dream. I have taught them the different sound of speech, the differences between r and l, between v and w and subject-verb agreement. I've shown them how to give an oral report, how to answer the phone, and how to sound authoritative. At the same time, I am being taught lessons of courage and resolve, motivation and values and a thing or two about the work ethic. I think I get much the better bargain, don't you?

This is not an article about the wonders of diversity. It most certainly is not about tolerance. It's about paying attention to people that you may have overlooked and who may just knock your socks off.

Contact us today to discuss how our workshops, coaching and training products can improve your Personal Professionalism and Communication Impact.

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